Guided by the Word

“Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” —Isaiah 30:21

THE wisdom of fallen man is so imperfect and incomplete that he finds it necessary to make frequent adjustments of his viewpoints in order to keep abreast of the times. For this reason it is considered praiseworthy if one can maintain an open mind; that is, a mind that is able readily to discard opinions of the past which were considered true in order to accept what appears to be a better conception of the matter now available.

But with God it is different. In the perfection of his wisdom he was able to know the end from the beginning, so that his expressions of truth on any subject never need to be changed. It is for this reason, then, that the Lord’s people, in seeking guidance in the right way, are encouraged to look backward rather than forward—backward to the original teachings and instructions of Jesus and God’s holy apostles and prophets.

Human wisdom would say, Do not depend too much upon the past, because the ideas of men in ancient times were very crude, and influenced largely by superstition. But those who are seeking to be guided by the will of the Lord still take the prophet’s advice and give heed to the “word from behind.” This “word from behind” is without question the instruction of the Lord given through his inspired teachers, for Isaiah prefaced his statement, saying, “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers.”—Isa. 30:20

The “bread of adversity, and the water of affliction” mentioned by Isaiah seem to refer to chastisements of the Lord upon the Israelites because of their turning from him to the worship of idols. These chastisements were intended to bring the Israelites back to the worship of the true God, as they had formerly learned to worship him through the teachers which he had provided. To these teachers of the past they were to give ear as a “word [from] behind … saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.”

How appropriate is this lesson to the Lord’s people today! It is just as difficult now as ever, for the servant of the Lord to keep his heart and affections set upon the true God. There are many idols which the wayward heart sets up instead of God. There are the idols of wealth, social prestige, comfort, the plaudits of men, etc. And there also still exist the idols of false religions. Many of these may consist of pet theories which we have developed, which could have a greater influence in our lives than the Word from behind.

What, then, is the true safeguard against these tendencies to get away from full devotion to God? It is the same as that which Isaiah recommended; namely, to return to the original God-given teachers of the past and take heed unto their instructions. In other words, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.” But in turning to the teachers of the past we must be sure to go back far enough. It is not enough that we go back to the early reformers. No, we must go all the way back to the Lord’s inspired teachers, and let them be our guides in faith and practice.

These faithful, inspired guides who gave us the Bible have borne testimony of the entire plan of God, including his plan for the time in which we are now living. They tell us that this is the end of the Gospel Age, when Babylon is falling, and when the Lord’s people are called to be separate from her in order that they may not partake of her sins, and receive not of her plagues. (Rev. 18:4) They tell us that our part now is to let our light shine out in the dark world for a witness and in order that we may be a blessing and a comfort to fellow members of the body of Christ. These are but examples of what the Word from behind is calling to the Lord’s people today, and happy are we if we give heed to that Word.

Guides Us Personally

Not only does the Word from behind give instructions concerning the general plan of God, but it also furnishes information to guide us in our individual experiences. As individuals we frequently come to crises in our lives and need a word of counsel upon which we can truly depend. Here again the Word from behind should be consulted, for it contains instructions covering practically every experience which may arise in the Christian’s life. It is a word which is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”—II Tim. 3:16,17

The spirit of meekness, teachableness, is a necessary prerequisite to be guided by the Word from behind because in many instances the instructions of that Word are contrary to the inclinations of our fallen human nature. Our own will must be buried and we must be determined to do the Lord’s will no matter what the cost may be, else the Word from behind will be likely to fall upon deaf ears. If we are not sufficiently meek and humble in our following of the Lord’s instructions he may deem it necessary to chastise us as he did the Israelites of old.

If we should find ourselves being chastised; that is, corrected by disciplinary methods, let us not be discouraged. Let us not suppose that the Lord has forsaken us, but rather that he is using this method to bring us back to him and to the Word from behind, that we may rely more fully upon his wisdom, and be more faithful in obeying his instructions—“Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” (Heb. 12:6) After all, the real purpose of all God’s dealings with us through his Word and by his providences is that we may learn to know and to do his will from the heart.

God’s Love Perfected

The Apostle John wrote, “Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.” (I John 2:5) As already noted, the great objective of the Christian life is to know and to do the Father’s will; and it is his will that we become like him in character, with his love permeating our whole being and controlling all our thoughts, words, and actions. If we keep the divine Word this glorious result should daily become more apparent in our lives. We will not, of course, ever be able to bring our fallen flesh fully into line with the holy desires of the heart; but if we keep his Word as we should, the heart will not willingly consent to words or conduct that are out of harmony with the divine will.

One of the hardest lessons to learn is the lesson of obedience to the divine will in the little things of life. The flesh is prone to reason that we should not be so particular about details of the divine will lest we be considered extreme and narrow. Perhaps it was to emphasize the importance of little things that God gave our first parents the simple test of the forbidden fruit. Had the test been some flagrant violation of justice, or other obvious wrong-doing, the outcome may have been different. But it was, seemingly, an insignificant matter involving merely the matter of eating or not eating a certain fruit of the garden. Why should God be concerned about such a little thing as that?

The criterion by which God often decides the heart attitude of his people is that he who is faithful in that which is least will also be faithful in that which is great. That this is true is readily apparent from our own experience and observation. If we have the law of God in our hearts and are seeking to obey it because we love it, and because it is our meditation day and night, we will not be contentious about what may appear to be relatively unimportant matters. We will not be saying that this, that, or the other of the Lord’s requirements does not matter; that we will merely pay attention to the big things—the things which even the world or the worldly-minded might consider wrong.

It is apparent that God can use and exalt to the divine nature only those who prove fully obedient to him, those who have utmost faith in his Word and in his wisdom. We may not always understand why he requires certain things, but our faith must firmly trust him, come what may; and trusting him, we must willingly and gladly obey his will. Mother Eve may not have been able to understand why she should not partake of the forbidden fruit; but God knew, and a full spirit of obedience on her part would have protected her against the deceptive influences of the fallen Lucifer.

Through Obedience

Both the love of God and our love for God can be perfected in the Christian only through obedience to the divine Word. The Word of God is the expression of his mind, hence through his Word he makes himself known to us. The Word reveals his love, and as we endeavor to keep that Word we become like him because we are acting in harmony with his thoughts. True love for God is the motive by which we are inspired to be like him, to have his love dwelling in our hearts. If our love for him is wholehearted and sincere it will brook no halfhearted obedience to the precepts and examples of his Word, but will cause us to listen for the voice from behind, and hearing it, we will endeavor to follow its instructions no matter what the cost to ourselves may be.

This obedience to the Word of God will undoubtedly prove costly to the flesh, because God’s will for the Christian usually runs counter to the flesh. It calls for sacrifice and suffering, while the flesh would say, “Let us be ‘at ease in Zion.’” (Amos 6:2) The flesh counsels moderation in walking the narrow way, and is ever on the alert to hold the new creature back from the path of full obedience.

The flesh resorts to scriptures also in its efforts to be comfortable and serene. It will advise the new creature to exercise the “spirit of a sound mind,” for example, in following the pathway of obedience to the divine will. On the other hand, having entered into a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice, we should recognize that it would be exceedingly unwise, and indicative of a very unsound mind, to hold back in any way from faithfulness in doing that which we have covenanted to do.

In Jesus, the living Word, we have a perfect example of one who kept the will of his Father in his heart and obeyed it in every detail of his life. And it is not difficult to note the fullness with which the love of God was displayed in him. So fully did the Master’s obedience to the divine will make him like God that he could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9) We cannot hope to attain such fullness of divine love ourselves, but we can strive to be more and more like the Master by daily listening more intently for the Word from behind, and hearing it, joyfully and enthusiastically obey its every dictate.

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